Portable soap dish



Nov. 15, 1955 J. S. MARDRE, JR

PORTABLE SOAP DISH Filed Aug. 11, 1954 I N VEN TOR.

ATTIJ RN EYS United States atent O PORTABLE SOAP DISH James SelbyMardre, Jr., Miami, Fla;- Application August 11, E54, Serial No. 449,143

1 Claim. c1. 4s-2s This invention relates to a portable soap dishadapted to provide a cover for a cake of soap to facilitate carryingsoap in traveling and being particularly adapted for use by men in thearmed forces where it is necessary to store soap in lockers, and inparticular a soap dish, preferably formed of plastic wherein a cover ispivotally mounted on a base and the base is adapted to be retained inposition on a wall or the like with vacuum cups and wherein the cover isadapted to swing over the vacuum cups to a downwardly disposed positionin which the cover provides a brace for supporting the base of the soapdish.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a soap dish of comparativelylight weight whereby the soap dish with a cake of soap therein isadapted to be carried in a pocket or handbag or retained in a locker andwherein the soap dish is adapted to be readily set up or attached to awall, such as the wall of a shower in a bathroom or the like forretaining soap in a convenient position for use.

It is generally considered diflicult to provide a soap dish for a showerand particularly where the soap dish is adapted to be used for both atub bath and a shower and it has also been found difiicult to providemeans for wrapping a wet cake of soap so that it may be packed andcarried from one location to another. With these thoughts in mind, thisinvention contemplates a soap dish having a body in which a cake of soapmay be positioned with vacuum cups positioned on one side of the bodyfor supporting the body from a wall or the like and wherein the body isprovided with a hinged cover that is adapted to swing over the vacuumcups and extend downwardly to provide a bracket or support when the soapdish is set up for use.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide a portable soapdish that provides a cover for a cake of soap and that may readily beset up and attached to a wall surface when it is desired to use soaptherefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable soap dishhaving a hinged cover in which the cover is adapted to provide asupporting brace for the soap dish.

A further object of the invention is to provide a portable soap dishhaving a hinged cover and also having means for temporarily supportingthe soap dish on a wall or the like in which the soap dish is of asimple and economical construction.

With these and other objects and advantages in view, the inventionembodies a soap dish having a base with end walls and having an arcuatefront wall and wherein the rear wall connects the ends of the end walls,a cover having an opening in the rear portion thereof and having flangesat the ends overlapping the end walls of the base pivotally connectedthrough said flanges to the end walls of the base, and vacuum cupsmounted by studs on the rear wall of the base.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description taken in connection with the drawing, wherein:

Figure" 1 is a pers ective view illustrating the ir'h proved soap dishshowing the dish with the cover in. closed position.

Figure 2 is -an elevational view of the improved-soap dish showing thecover in the open position in which the cover supports thebaseand'showingthe cover in the closed position in dotted lines.

Figure 3 is a cross'section through the soap dish taken on line 3'--3 ofFigure 1, also showing the parts with the coverin the closed position.-

Figtire' 4-- is a longitudinal section through the rear portion of thesoa'p dish taken on line 44 of-Figure 3 illustrating the pivotalconnections of the cover to the base, showing the vacuum cups andindicating, by broken lines, the position of the cover with the coverextended downwardly to provide a support for the base.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference characters denotecorresponding parts, the improved portable soap dish of this inventionincludes a base 10 having an upwardly sloping and arcuate forwardsection 11, end Walls 12 and 13 and a rear wall 14, a cover 15 havingflanges 16 and 17 at the ends with the flanges provided with extensions18 and 19, respectively, through which studs 20 and 21 extended from theside walls 12 and 13 of the base extend, and, as illustrated in Figures1 and 3, the upper wall of the cover 15 terminates on a line 22, theline, which forms the edge of the cover, being positioned to engage thelower surface of the base 10 upon swinging the cover over the rearportion of the soap dish to the position shown in Figure 2; and,particularly as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the soap dish is adapted to betemporarily supported with vacuum cups 23 and 24 that are mounted onstuds 25 and 26, respectively, in the rear wall 14 of the base.

With the base formed, particularly as illustrated in Figure 3, a cake ofsoap positioned between the cover and base is protected and may bepositioned in a handbag, locker or the like without the wet soap comingin contact with other articles in the handbag or locker. With the coverturned over to the position shown in Figure 2 the soap is exposed andshould the soap adhere to the base 10 it may be forced forwardly wherebythe arcuate inner surface of the base will cause the soap to slide freeof the base.

The cover 15 is provided with an arcuate lip 27 that overlaps the upperedge of the base and the studs 20 and 21 are provided with heads 28 and29 that prevent the flanges of the cover spreading, thereby providingmeans for retaining the parts in assembled relation.

The studs 25 and 26 that extend from the rear wall 14 of the base arealso provided with heads or flanges, as indicated by the numerals 30 and31, and these heads or flanges are positioned to be received in annularrecesses in the vacuum cups 23 and 24, respectively, whereby the cupsare permanently secured to the rear wall 14 of the base.

In use the device is positioned as shown in Figure 2, and a cake of soapis placed in the base, and after use the vacuum cups are removed fromthe surface of the wall 32 and the cover moved upwardly to its positionon the base, as illustrated in Figure I. With the cover in this positionthe soap may be placed in a handbag or stored in a locker or the likeuntil use thereof is again desired.

It will be understood that modifications, within the scope of theappended claim, may be made in the design and arrangement of the partswithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A portable soap dish comprising a base having an upwardly sloping andarcuate forward section, upwardly extending side walls, an upwardlyextending rear wall, a

pair of rearwardly facing suction cups secured to the outer surface ofthe said rear wall, a cover member which extends from the forward edgeof the base rearwardly to a line spaced from and parallel to said rearwall, said cover member having depending side Walls which overlap theside walls of the base and which extend the full length of the sidewalls of the base, and means pivoting the side walls of the cover memberto the side walls of the base along an axis parallel to and between saidrear wall and said line, the spacing of the cover member from the rearwall being substantially equal to the distance of the outermost part ofthe suction cups from said rear wall, so that the cover member may bepivoted upwardly and around the suction cups to a position wherein saidcover member extends downwardly from the base, with the forward edgethereof in substantially the same plane as the said outermost part ofsaid suction cups and with the rear edge thereof bearing against thelower surface of the base member whereby said cover serves as a bracewhen the soap dish is mounted on a vertical supporting surface by meansof said suction cups.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS331,062 Hull Nov. 24, 1885 1,219,370 Bray Mar. 13, 1917 1,468,917 OsburnSept. 25, 1923 2,230,709 Walters Feb. 4, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 17,062Great Britain 1895

